Process for making ribbed expanded-metal structures.



H. E. WHITE. PROCESS FOR MAKING RIBBED EXPANDED METAL STRUCTURES. APPLICATION FILED MA Yl3. 1913.

1,145,341 Patented Jill 6, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET I.

H. E. WHITE. PROCESS FOR MAKING RIBBED EXPANDED METAL STRUCTURES. APPLICATION FILED -MAY 13, 1913.

1,145,341, I PatentedJuly 6,1915.

5 SHEETSSHEET 2.

H. E. WHITE.

KING RIBBED EXPANDED METAL STRUCTURES.

PROCESS FOR MA "Patnted July 6, 1915.

5 SHEETSSHEET,3.

H. E. WHITE.

PROCESS FOR MAKING RIBBED EXPANDED METAL STRUCTURES.

APPLICATION FILED MAYYIB. 1913.

Patented July 6, 1915.

5 SHEETSSHEET 4.

#W 4% WW,

H. E. WHITE. PROCESS FOR MAKING RIBBED EXPANDED METAL STRUCTURES.

' APPLICATION man MAYIS. 1913.

1,145,341 1 Patented July 6, 1915. Q Z4 5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

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MED srarns PATENT oFrioE.

HERBERT E. WHITE, OF YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE GENERAL FIRE- IPROOFING- COMPANY, OF YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

PROCESS FOR MAKING RIBBED EXPANDED-METAL STRUCTURES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT E. WHITE,

.a citizen of the United States, residing at manipulating metal sheets to develop and produce, in a rapid and economical manner,

an expanded metal structure having rela-.

tively deep groovesbetween the slitted and expanded portions, said grooves forming ribs which stiffen and otherwise change the general character of the sheet,adapting it for a variety of uses. In the production of these deep ribbed articles, considerable difficulty has been experienced in expanding the slitted port-ions between the ribs. If the portion intermediate the ribs, be first expanded, the act of expansion causes the r1b portions to spread apart or move away from one another, requiring complex machinery in order to accommodate this movement. If on, the other hand, the act of expanding is concurrentor sinmltaneous with the formation of the ribs, by causing the slits to open as the metal is taken up in the ribs, the pull on the slitted portion is not equally distributed. The slits nearest the rib will open first; then the next row will start to open, with the result that by the time the slits in the central part of the expanded portion, are fully opened, the metal between the outer slits,that is, the slits near the edge next to the ribs,will be greatly strained and distorted. This is particularly true when the slits are to be opened out into diamond shaped figures. The present invention meets this condition by first expanding the slitted portion and making provision for the increased area of the expanded section by causing the slitted portion to move to one side of the plane of the original. sheet into an approximately V V-shaped formation, while it is undergoing the act of being ex panded. Thus, according to the present in Specification of Letters Patent.

vention,;the expansion of the slitted material .is effected without any movement of the uncut area from which the ribs are to be formed. 7

Accordingly, adistinguishing feature of the present method or process, as compared with other known methods of manufacturing ribbed expanded metal structures, resides in first subjecting the blank sheet of metal to an operation which simultaneously slits and Patented J u1y'6, 1915. v

Application filed May 13, 1913. Serial No. 767,344.

expands certain areas of the sheet and leaves blank unslitted areas between the expanded areas, and subsequently subjects the sheet as thus formed to another operation that channels said blank unslitted areas with relatively deep grooves which produce stifl'- eningribs for the structure. The effect of this channeling or grooving step is to necessarily displace the unslitted areas or portions: of the metal to one side of the plane of the original sheet producing ribs, and to simultaneously exert a lateral draw upon 'the previously expanded portions with the be adapted, for the purpose, but for illustrative purposes there is shown in the drawings, diagrammatically, certain suggested devices that may be employed in connection with the slitting and rib-forming steps, and

in these drawings,-Figure 1 is a View illustrative of the preliminary step of the process, namely of a plain sheet metal blank of any predetermined size is section. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrative of the special dies that are preferably employed for first subjecting the blank sheet of metal to a combined slitting and expanding operation; the view illustrating the action of the.

dies in cutting the slits and depressing or displacing the individual strands or cut-out portions. Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are a series of projected sectional views illustrating the preferable manner of slitting and expanding the reticulated or meshed portions of the sheet, the views showing the progressive development and deepening of the substantially V-shaped or arched meshed webs between the blank unslitte-d areas. Figs. 7 and S are projected sectional and plan views respectively showing the form of the metal sheet as produced by the first step of the process. Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the sheet shown in Figs. 7 and 8. Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic plan view of a type of grooving and spreading machine that may be utilized for the final step of the process. Fig. 11 is a cross sectional view of the slitted and expanded blank illustrating by dotted lines its points of entry into the passes of the primary grooving units. Fig. 12 is a similar view showing the final product with its stiffening ribs and the arched meshed web, or reticulated portions, drawn into their final shape; the view also illustrating the article as it is delivered from the final passes of the grooving and spreading machine. Fig. 13 is a plan view of the final product, viz., the ribbed expanded metal structure made according to the present process. Figs. 14, 15 and 16 are diagrammatic views of a metal sheet illustrative of a modification that may be resorted to in the process. Fig. 17 is a diagrammatic plan view similar to Fig. 10 suggesting an arrangement of the die rollers or disks that may be used in carrying out the of the process according to Figs. 14, 15 and 16 of the drawings.

Like references designate corresponding parts in. the several figures of the drawings.

In carrying out the present inventioin the first step in the process, as above indicated, is to simultaneously slit and expand certain areas of sheet metal blank, such as the blank a shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. This may be accomplished by any suitable mechanism or apparatus available for the purpose,

1 but preferably by the means of coiipe rating combined cutting and displacing dies 72 and 0 having the structural characteristics, ar rangement, and operation of the dies disclosed in the patent to Herbert E. White, No. 1,019,632, dated Jan. 7, 1913. These dies are diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the upper dies being shown sufliciently depressed to illustrate the action thereof in cutting slits in the sheet metal and displacing or off-setting, to one side of the plane thereof, the individual strands or cut-out portions. The first stage in this manipulation of the metal blank be" tween the graduated dies of a die mechanism, such as that disclosed. in said patent, is to cut or slit the blank, in each. slitted area, centrally of such areav producing a middle series of alined and spaced longitudt nal slits or cuts 1. as shown in Figs. 3 and 8. Then. this middle series of slits, in each slitted area, is succeeded by the formation of other parallel longitudinal slits designated by the numeral 2 in Figs. 5 and 8, and other figures. These other longitudinal slits 2 are cut into the metal sheet on both sides of the middle series of slits and are successively made nearer and nearer to the margins of the sheet, while all. of the slits, in each row thereof, are disposed in staggered or alternating spaced relation to the slits of adjacent rows.

In the combined slitting and expanding operation, a feature is the elongating or stretching of the strands of metal. between the slits, accomplished. by suitable instrumentalities such as suggested in the aforesaid patent to this applicant. The slitting and expanding step acts to displace all of the meshed Webthus produced to one side of the plane of the original sheet, the said meshed web taking the form of a V-shaped trough-like arch (Z. The result of this operation is to expand the slitted areas of the sheet, while at the same time stretching or elongating the metal in such portions. The stretching or elongating of the individual strands serves to harden the metal to a certain extent, thus giving rigidity to the meshed or reticulated portions, and also effecting a saving of material Without weakening the structure at any point.

When the combined slitting, expanding and deforming step is completed, the final step of the process is to subject the metal shape of Figs. 7, 8, and. 9 to a channeling or grooving operation that channels the blank unslitted areas 6 with relatively deep grooves which produce stiffening ribs between the expanded reticulated portions d. This ribforming operation may be performed in any suitable manner and by any suitable instrumentalities, but for illustrative purposes there is suggested in Figs. 10, 11, and 12 of the drawings a means that may be resorted to for this step of the process. As diagramma tically illustrated in Fig. 10 of the drawings, a type of grooving and spreading machine that may be employed. consists of a suitable number of graduated channeling or grooving units, each of which units may include successively arranged sets of upper and lower comi'ilemental die rolls 3 and il respectively and suitable guides supported in stationary position between the succeeding sets of rolls. This is plainly shown in Fig. 10 of the drawings, and it will be understood that the die rolls will be arranged in parallel rows on parallel shafts, but necessarily are successively of a. graduated con-- struction to provide for progressively deepening and narrowing the gr-ioves until the. same reach the full depth to provide the linished ri 7. As the unslitted and unexpanded portions oil. the sheet are drawn into ribs, the area of said portions will contract, but this contraction will be compensated for the expanded portions are taking the form of a straight line and their area in the original plane of the sheet is enlarged.

To illustrate the progressive development of the rib-forming grooves f to produce the stifl'e'ning-ribs 9 between the expanded .por tions 03, Fig. 11 of the drawings shows the engaging portions of the upper and lower die rolls 3 and 4 as they would appear at the feeding end of the grooving and spreading machine, while Fig. 12 shows these die rolls as they would appear at the delivery end of the machine where the rib-Iforming grooves have reached their full depth and the slitted and expanded portions 03 have been spread or straightened into substantially the plane of the original sheet.

In the final product, as shown in Figs. '12 and 13, there is produced by reason of the specific manipulations described, an expanded section of a diamond meshed form between each pair of ribs, with the slats or strands of the mesh inclined at a-considerable angle to the flat plane of the structure, and the slats or strands at one side of the longitudinal center line of each meshed area being inclined reversely to the slats or strands at the opposite side of said line, although it is understood that the present invention is not limited to this detail. Also, the process may be modified to meet certain conditions without departing from the invention. For.

instance, the process as illustrated by the group of figures 1 to 10 inclusive, involves the feature of completing the lateral spreading of the expanded portions into the flat plane simultaneously with completing the ribsformation. A modification of this manipulation is shown in Figs. 14 to 17 inclusive of the drawings, and presents one practical way of producing the structure when the formation of the ribs require more stock than the lateral spreading of the expanded portions of the sheet will give. In explanation of this-modification, it will be noted that Fig.- 14 of the drawings diagrammatically shows the slitted and expanded sheet of the form shown in Fig. 7 with the intermediate blank unslitted areas between slitted and ex panded portions. By means of suitable in strumentalities, the blank unslitted areas of the sheet shown in Fig. 14: are grooved to form the ribs 9 of the product, but before these ribs are completed to the desired form, the slitted and expanded portions 0? will have been laterally spread into substantially the,

narrow or deepen the ribs, or both, to said desired form, and consequently narrowing the sheet without, however, a further expansion or contraction of the expanded areas.

Although it will be understood that any instrumentalities or mechanism maybe util-- iz'ed in carrying out the modified process of Figs. 14., 15 and'16, a suggested means is diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 17 of the drawings, wherein the graduated die rollers or disks 3 are shown as preferably disposed nism that can be resorted to is shown in the applicants Patent No. 1,056,871 dated March 25, 1913, wherein the bowed areas marked w in said patent bear thesame relation to the ribs as the bowed slitted and expanded areas in the present invention. Also other modifications in the process may be resorted to wherein the principle of the invention is retained.

I claimz a y ,1. The method of making expanded metal structures which consists in. slitting and stretching a longitudinal inside area of a metal sheet, leaving an uncut area on both margins of the slitted area, and, simultaneously, with the slitting operation, deforming the entire section of material between the uncut areas into a trough-form depressed to one side of the flat plane of the sheet, thereby producing open meshes, and subsequently grooving the uncut areas to thereby produce ribs and to also thereby fully straighten the expanded troughed sections.

. 2. The method of making expanded metal structures which consists in slitting and stretching a longitudinal inside area of a 7 metal sheet, leaving an uncut area on both.

margins of the slitted area, and, simultane-' ously with the slitting operation, deforming the entire section of material between the uncut areas into a trough-form depressed to one side of the fiat plane of the sheet, thereby signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HERBERT E. WHITE.

Witnesses:

D. P. WOLHAUPTER, ELSIE C. SEwALL. 

